“Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.” -Mahatma Gandhi In class this week, we discussed the ability to empower your team. Part of that empowerment is knowing when you allow them to make decisions that the team will make mistakes at some point. However, if you immediately jump to phrases like, “Why did you do that?” or “What were you thinking?” You are shutting down your team's desire to make decisions. So many leaders say they are e

“Humility is the solid foundation of all virtues.” -Confucius  I was recently looking at the topic of resume virtues versus eulogy virtues. The difference between them is focused on intent. With resume virtues, we are presenting something that we want the world to see. They don’t have to be deeply held values, but what we want others to believe. In that way, they function like a mask. A mask is worn for many reasons, but all of them obscure seeing the face beneath. In much th

“Culture is not an initiative. Culture is the enabler of all initiatives.” -Larry Senn We were discussing culture during class the other day and it was important for the group to understand that everyone plays a role in culture building. The leader may set the direction for the culture of the group, but until everyone is living out the values that culture doesn’t exist. This was also an opportunity to show them that “leader” does not mean the person with the biggest title. Of

“If you're always racing to the next moment, what happens to the one you're in? Slow down and enjoy the moment you're in and live your life to the fullest.” -Nanette Mathews Last week I was visiting Oklahoma and right after getting back from dinner, the tornado sirens started going off. Not being from the area, I headed down to the lobby, and the staff seemed to be very calm. Several of us had ventured out of our rooms to make sure everything was okay. Then the staff started

“Your competition is not other people but the time you kill, the ill will you create, the knowledge you neglect to learn, the connections you fail to build, the health you sacrifice along the path, your inability to generate ideas, the people around you who don't support and love your efforts, and whatever god you curse for your bad luck.” -James Altucher A concept we discussed in class this week is the danger of comparison. We explored how it is very hard to be focused on yo

“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerless

“Peace is not an absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.” -Ronald Reagan Working with leaders the other day, we were discussing how to handle conflict. However, the first message we unpacked was what qualifies as healthy conflict versus unhealthy conflict.  Healthy conflict is an important sign of a high functioning organization. It means that team members are capable of having disagreements and differences of opinion without feeling like

“A coach’s job is to teach and demand. A players job is to prepare and perform.” -PJ Fleck This quote stuck with me this week because it clearly defines responsibilities. The job to teach someone, provide them with the tools, and then demand their commitment to the task is on a leader. However, the ultimate outcome relies on the team members ability to prepare for the moment and then perform when it matters the most. I want to break down the team members portion of this becau

“Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn out the pain.” -Joseph Campbell This week I have been “playing through the pain” because I injured myself recently. This made my work challenging because I had to adapt the way I present. I couldn’t move and was restricted to sitting for the majority of my presentations. As someone who is in motion a lot, this was frustrating for me. The important reminder was that I didn’t feel much pain while teaching. There was

“Stay afraid but do it anyway. What’s important is the action. You don’t have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow.” -Carrie Fisher When I am coaching, I hear a lot of leaders mention that their team members are not taking action. However, during those conversations they never mention not taking action. What they actually say is, “My team member said they are about to do it” or “My team member didn’t have time yet…” Have you ever been

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” -Wayne Gretzky In a lot of my work with bankers, they are afraid to offer products to their customers. There are several different reasons they will give as far as why that is the case, but it ultimately means that they are limiting themselves, their customers, and their organizations.  However, I also see the exact same thing in a lot of leaders. They don’t want to have a difficult conversation with a team member for very similar

“Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.” -Stephen R. Covey I recently had a conversation with a leader about creating a bonfire in people. I told him that I am happy to meet with leaders and try to create a spark, however the leader is responsible for bringing the fuel to keep the fire burning. What we were talking about is motivation. In regard to motivation, an outside force could create a

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” -Rita Mae Brown As we count down to the new year, it is important to remember that a day rolling over or a new year starting is not going to immediately change our outcomes. I often hear people saying that the new year will be different, meaning that they expect this year to be a better year than the last. However, the problem with this philosophy is that the dates on the calendar have min

“You have to love yourself. That’s the single most powerful thing. Out of that springs: How are you eating? How are you exercising? How are you resting?” -Nia Peeples We have reached the time of year when many of us are taking some extra time off to rest. However, I know a lot of that time may also not be as restful as we hope. Instead of taking some time to slow down and reflect, we spend it running all over the place and going to different functions. While I definitely want

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” -William Arthur Ward When this time of year comes around, it is a great reminder to think about your purpose in life. I have worked with a lot of people to help them figure out what their purpose is, and I can confidently say the people who figure it out have one common thread. It always involves other people. One of the basic principles of life is that we need other people to make it fulf

“Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” -Richard Branson As many of my college football fans will be aware, today is the first day where new recruits can sign to join your team for the upcoming year. However, as modern day college fans know, just because someone signs with your team it doesn’t mean they will be there long term. People have all kinds of motivations for why they would choose one team over another: money, playi

“Pursue what catches your heart, not what catches your eyes.” -Roy T. Bennett My class this week had a conversation about motivation. The question came up, “What can I do to motivate someone to invest in themselves if they don’t seem to be self-motivated?” My answer was very simple. I don’t think you currently know what motivates them. A mistake many leaders make is assuming that because something is motivating to them that it will be motivating to their team member(s). Howev

“I worry about the things I can affect, and the things I have no control over I move by.” -Lenny Wilkens A great mystery to me is how much humans want to be in control. The reason this continues to astound me is because there are so many things going on in our day that we have no control over. The desire to have control isn’t an inherently negative one, but have you ever gotten caught up trying to maintain control over something that you can’t possibly change/fix? When this o

“Grief is like the ocean; it comes in waves; ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim.” -Vicki Harrison When I think about loss, there are a lot of days where you can feel like the protagonist in a movie or tv show when they are getting tossed about by the water. The scenes where they get pulled under and are fighting to catch their breath. The only big difference is that we know they will make it becaus

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” -Theodore Roosevelt I was working with leaders this week and we were talking about service. An attendee asked, “What do we do if a customer comes in with a request that will take time, but we have a team member who has to leave?” Now this is a great question because it is a real question. I have lived in those moments wh